A French Perspective in New York...
Join me as I search New York for everything that reminds me of Paris but of course is still New York. Follow me as I figure out what it means to be Paris in New York.

Photo Albums

February 25, 2011

La Peste, by Francis Huster - Thursday, March 3rd -8pm

Francis Huster, one of France's most acclaimed actors, former member of the Comedie Francaise, is presenting his adaptation of Nobel Laureate Albert Camus' La Peste in Manhattan next week.

The existentialism of the text, written by Albert Camus and published in 1947 has a lot to frighten any spectator not familiar with that period. But Francis Huster's charisma and dark good looks bring a particular richness to the story of those medical workers finding solidarity in their labor as the Algerian city of Oran is swept by a plague. He asks a number of questions relating to the Nature of Destiny and the Human Condition.

"Mr. Huster doesn’t act. He reaches the extreme limits of transparency. What an astonishing performer! He throws away the act, the costume, with which he has played and used for years with his immense talent; and goes to the essential, the rough diamond of his art." (L’Express Paris)

About Albert Camus

Albert Camus grew up in Algiers, the son of Lucien Camus, an agricultural worker who died in the First World War, and Catherine Sintes, a young servant of Spanish origin. After obtaining his baccalaureate in 1932, he studied philosophy. Camus then went into journalism, writing for the newspaper Alger Républicain, where his articlesattracted interest. Later, he moved to Paris, and was hired by Paris Soir. During those years, Camus’ novel The Strangerwas published. In 1999, it was ranked at the top of a list of the 100 best books of the 20th century. In 1936, Camus founded theThéâtre du Travailand together with three close friends wrote Révolte dans les Asturies, a play that was banned.At the start of World War II, he joined a resistance movement in Paris along with Jean-Paul Sartre, with whom he grew close. After the liberation of Paris, he became editor-in-chief of the newspaper Combat. La Pestewas published in 1947 and found immediate success. Camus’ works, articulated around the themes of the absurd and revolt, are inseparable from his public stances on Francoism, Communism, and Algeria’s quest for independence. Passionate about theater, Camus also adapted to the stage Faulkner’sRequiem for a Nun. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957"for his important literary production, which with clear-sighted earnestness illuminates the problems of the human conscience in our times." Three years later, Camus died in a tragic car accident.